Christina Aguilera Looks Like A Totally Different Person With No Makeup

In a brand new interview with Paper, the '90s legend has spoken up about LGBTQ issues and the sexualisation of women...

Christina Aguilera is no stranger to a transformation. Much like Madonna before her, the pop princess has reinvented her look on more than one occasion.

We all remember the ‘girl next door’ vibe from the days of Genie In A Bottle, What A Girl Wants and Come On Over Baby; for many of us, her debut self-titled album was the soundtrack to the last year of the ’90s.

The pop princess back in 1999

It’s fair to say that nobody was ready for Christina’s comeback, a few years later in 2002, which saw her strutting her stuff – complete with braids, fake tan and nose stud – into a boxing ring.

Oh, and who can forget about those iconic assless chaps?

Yup, parents up and down the country were not impressed – I can remember the music video being hotly debated on breakfast television as I was slurping up my bowl of cornflakes before school.

The same album, Stripped, also brought us Boombox-toting Xtina from Can’t Hold Us Down. A personal favourite.

Basically, you get the idea, Christina has switched up her style A LOT – always making a statement while she was at it.

Now, on a brand new Paper cover, she has really stripped it back, going make-up free for a close-up beauty shoot.

‘I’ve always been someone that obviously loves to experiment, loves theatrics, loves to create a storyline and play a character in a video or through stage,’ she told the magazine. ‘I’m a performer, that’s who I am by nature. But I’m at the place, even musically, where it’s a liberating feeling to be able to strip it all back and appreciate who you are and your raw beauty.’

Wearing a simple ‘mom’ ring, the 37-year-old stared down the lens of the camera, showing off her freckles with pride.

The singer has always been a proud supporter of the LGBTQ community. Including gay and transgender stories within the video for 2002’s Beautiful, which was acknowledged with a GLAAD Media Award, and releasing a fundraising single for the families of the victims of the Pulse shooting, she explained why she still feels it’s important to speak up: ‘These are people who I grew up with and who are brilliant, talented and strong that deserve for their voice to be heard and fought for, as well.’

She’s clearly not only responsible for some major ’90s and ’00s bangers; we’ve got Xtina to thank for some serious boundary pushing – and that extends to the feminist movement too.

‘It was a very interesting and controversial time for me,’ she reminisced about the Dirrty era. ‘Either women are not sexual enough or we’re not fulfilling enough of a fantasy for you, but then if we’re overtly sexual or feeling empowered in a certain kind of way, then we’re shamed for it.’